🛤️ 1. Needles – The Railroad and River Town

  • El Garces Harvey House: Once a glamorous railroad hotel, now a beautifully restored piece of early 20th-century architecture.

  • Historic U.S. 66 Signage: Still visible around town—keep an eye out for original road markers.

  • Needles Regional Museum: Great for regional history, railroads, Native American artifacts, and early Route 66 photos.

⛏️ 2. Goffs – Mojave Desert Pioneer History

  • Goffs Schoolhouse: A 1914 one-room schoolhouse turned museum. They’ve preserved everything—from mining tools to desert community life.

  • Mojave Desert Heritage & Cultural Association: Explore vintage mining equipment and get the scoop on forgotten desert towns.

🌋 3. Amboy – Postwar Americana

  • Roy’s Motel & Café: A true Route 66 relic and a perfect example of Googie architecture from the golden age of car travel.

  • Amboy Crater: While not man-made history, it's been a natural landmark for thousands of years and was noted by travelers long before Route 66 existed.

🛢️ 4. Newberry Springs – Dust Bowl & Pop Culture

  • Bagdad Café: Though the actual town of Bagdad is long gone, this café is tied to both the 1987 cult film and the area’s Dust Bowl refugee history.

🏜️ 5. Barstow – Hub of Old Route 66

  • Route 66 Mother Road Museum: Housed in the old Harvey House at the rail depot—double history!

  • Harvey House (Casa del Desierto): Lavish railroad stop, reflecting the era of luxury train travel in the West.

  • Western America Railroad Museum: Right next door, and tells the story of Barstow’s long connection to the rail industry.

  • Historic Downtown Murals: Look for the Route 66 murals showcasing the town’s past.

🧴 6. Oro Grande – Americana in the Desert

  • Elmer’s Bottle Tree Ranch: While quirky, it’s also a tribute to roadside art and self-expression from the post-war travel boom era.

🏛️ 7. Victorville – Route 66 Memory Lane

  • California Route 66 Museum: Full of artifacts from all across the route’s history—photos, signs, vehicles, even a recreated 1950s diner setup.

🏕️ 8. Cajon Pass – Engineering History

  • Drive through this historic mountain pass that’s been used since Native American trading routes. Railroads and Route 66 both had to conquer this terrain—an amazing bit of travel infrastructure history.

🏕️ 9. San Bernardino – Motels and McDonald's

  • Wigwam Motel: Stay the night in one of the last surviving teepee motels—listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

  • Original McDonald's Site Museum: The very first McDonald’s location, now a quirky but informative museum with early memorabilia.

🌊 10. Los Angeles to Santa Monica – The End of the Trail

  • Highland Park & Pasadena: Some of the oldest sections of Route 66—drive past historic homes, vintage gas stations, and the Arroyo Seco Parkway.

  • End of the Trail Sign at Santa Monica Pier: While not technically the original end, it’s the symbolic finale of Route 66. Plenty of plaques and markers to read.

  • Automobile Club of Southern California HQ: For deep Route 66 and California road history.